Sexual Persuasion (5 page)

Yes, he’d felt it.
That instant connection. But he wasn’t like Max, he rationalized. He was straight. He’d experienced sex only with women, relished it, though he’d never fallen in love. Yet he couldn’t deny the sexual feelings that coursed through him at the closeness of the stranger beside him.

“I don’t understand it,” he said, “but I felt it.”

“You’re straight?”

“Yes.”

“It happens. My name’s Gianni. Gianni Caravelli.” He put out his hand.

Alex reached for it. “Alex Andros.”

~~~~~

That surrealistic moment felt like something out of a movie where two people see each other across a crowded room, and every person in the theater knows immediately that sparks would fly between them.

He’d grown to care about the young architect more than he’d cared for anyone before or since, but Gianni was the reason he pulled away from Charlotte tonight, though every molecule in his body fought against it. Being in love had disastrous consequences, and he couldn’t―wouldn’t―tempt fate again.

Hold the Nuts

Caught by surprise, Charlotte sucked in an audible breath. “How did you get in here?”

He reeked of alcohol; his words slurred. “I’ve had a key since we first started dating.” He tossed it in the air and caught it in his fist. “I like to be in control, Charlotte. I want access to my women when I want them. After seeing you at the auction tonight, I knew I had to have you again. Then I saw you take off with Andros, so I decided to wait. And here we are.”

Charlotte seethed. What else had Jack been into? Had he rummaged through her underwear drawer? Hacked into her computer? She felt violated, also scared. Jack had been drinking, and he didn’t like being turned down. No telling what he’d do. She needed to be calm but firm.

“Yes, I found out about your control the hard way, and I’m not your woman. I want you out of my house. You’re drunk. Now leave, or I’ll call the police.”

Jack squinted. His lips curled into a sneer. He grunted as he swung his legs onto the floor and pushed himself into a sitting position. “You must be desperate to go out with Andros.”

Rising, he wobbled toward her. She backed up, hoping to get to the door and chance beating him down the stairs. But he reached her in three giant steps and pinned
her to the door.

“Bet your new boyfriend doesn’t appreciate what a delectable tidbit you are. But I know.”

Charlotte thrust against him, but he didn’t budge. “Let go of me. You don’t want to do this.”

“Don’t I?” He pulled something from his tux pocket. “See this?”

He pushed a photograph in her face. It took a few seconds to focus, but she recognized Jack’s attic room, where she woke up bound to the bed after passing out on their last date. They’d played a few sex games, a little light bondage, but nothing like what she saw. Not only were her wrists cuffed, but her legs were forced open with a spreader. Some kind of torturous contraption clamped both breasts. Charlotte gasped; her stomach cartwheeled. “I…I didn’t do this willingly, you son of a bitch. You drugged me.”

“Now, now, such foul language from a classy lady.
You wouldn’t have let me do this to you while you were awake, would you?”

Tears filled Charlotte’s eyes, and they trickled down her cheeks. “You’re despicable. What kind of animal does something like this?” She shoved him away, but he pressed her harder against the door, exactly as he had earlier at the museum. But Alex wasn’t here to save her now. She was on her own.

“Just relax,” he said. “It’s no use fighting me. You might as well enjoy it.” He moved his hand to her breast and pinched her nipple. “You used to like this. Did you let Andros get a handful?” He sniggered. “No, I doubt that’s his style. If it were, he’d be up here right now with his hands all over you. I admit, I worried about that. Then I thought, no, Andros didn’t want to get into a woman’s pants. Not with a limp dick. He wanted a man’s cock in his ass.”

The ugly words churned in Charlotte’s stomach. She wanted him out of her apartment, out of her life. She shoved against him to break free, but he grabbed both wrists and held them above her head, the same way Alex had moments before. Only Alex’s grasp was gentle. Jack’s one-handed grip hurt, while he tore off her shawl with his other.

She started to scream, but he clamped his hand over her mouth. “Scream, and I’ll make sure this photo winds up on the front pages of the sleaziest scandal sheets. What will the heading be? OWNER OF HIGH-END STORE A SEX SLAVE? Or how about, ENDOWED BEAUTY CAUGHT IN BDSM PHOTOS? Won’t your straitlaced Boston Brahmin customers love that? You’ll be ruined.” He breathed into her ear. “Now relax. Enjoy. Pleading won’t help. I get off on inflicting pain. You’d enjoy how I can make you feel if you gave it a chance.”

Wriggling did nothing to free her from his strong grip. She screamed in her throat, making no sound that would carry anywhere outside the room. Even if it did, no one would hear. Her building attached to other buildings, stores and boutiques, long closed.

Within a few seconds Jack had unzipped her dress and tugged it down. “Now shhh. I’m going to undo this harness you’re wearing. Keep your mouth shut while I get you in the mood to fuck.”

He didn’t mean fuck. He meant to get her ready to be raped. She couldn’t let Jack do this to her. But she couldn’t extricate herself from the viselike hold he had on her wrists. He had long mastered undoing bras with one hand, and when he unhooked hers, he lifted it to expose her breasts to his salacious glare.

“Being a breast man, I have to say yours are magnificent. For such a tiny woman to have knockers like these is one in a million.”

She struggled harder, found purchase on his hand, and bit into the hard flesh,
then tasted blood. He yelped, withdrawing his hand long enough for her to let out a loud, desperate scream. It wouldn’t matter, but she didn’t care. He smacked her hard across the face.

“You little vixen.
You want to play rough. I like that. But don’t bite again. Not if you know what’s good for you.”

“Let go of me,” she demanded, but he pressed against her with more force.

“You should do porn. You could make a fortune with these jugs bouncing over your small waist and perfect ass. I can arrange that, you know. Pictures like the one I showed you could net you a tidy retirement. Why, I bet Carpathian would give you the centerfold in his sleazy porn magazine if he got a gander of you naked.”

That only made Charlotte madder. She pushed against him, to no avail. Sobs choked in her throat, but she wouldn’t let them out. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. The smell of liquor and cigarettes turned her stomach. “You’re a pig,” she spat. “Is this how you get turned on? Can’t you get it up any more without drugging and raping a woman?”

“Sure I can. I’ll show you how turned on I am.” He unzipped his pants and pulled out his eager cock, then pulled down her panties with his free hand. She tried kneeing him, but he jumped back out of reach. Then he pinned her again. Thrusting his middle finger into her slit, he stopped and pulled back. “My, my, you’re hardly damp. Is that the effect Andros has on you?”

She’d been oozing downstairs with Alex, but Jack had scared her dry.
“No, you. You do nothing for me anymore.” She felt like giving up, but instead, she harnessed all the strength she could muster and pushed against him. Jack worked out in the gym of his hotel. He kept in better shape than men half his age. She felt helpless, defeated.

He laughed. “At least you’re not turned on by a queer.” He laughed again, then
jammed his erection between her legs. “I’ll get you juicy, because one thing I’m not is queer. You should know the difference. But then Andros will never take you to bed, so you won’t be able to compare.”

“Gay or not, Alex is twice the man you are. I saw you. You were afraid of him.”

A dark flush blossomed on Jack’s cheeks. “You’d better watch out. You’re playing with fire.”

“Coward.
You pick on people weaker than you. That’s the only way you can be in control.”

“That’s right, baby. See what you do to me? I’m hard as a boulder. Don’t you want my tongue licking your sweet pussy? You used to like that. Remember how I made you come over and over. We can do that again. Then you can suck me off. It’ll be like old times.”

She felt sick at the thought. His hold on her wrists tightened as he bent down to suck her nipple. When he bit down hard, Charlotte screamed. Wiggling and twisting only made the pain greater. For the first time her erogenous zone gave back nothing but a shiver of revulsion. His other hand still massaged her pussy to get her wet enough to welcome his rock-hard cock, but she remained so dry, she hurt.

Giving up on her, he spread his oozing fluid over his cockhead to make easy entry and lost his focus long enough to relax his hold. Charlotte wouldn’t waste the moment. She lifted her knee with the force of her entire body and slammed him hard in the balls, smashing his penis up into his hand. Taken by surprise, he released her and doubled over, cupping his nuts and emitting a sickly groan. She quickly pulled up her panties. Unwilling to give him time to recoup, she kicked him again, harder. He hit the floor with a thud, wailing obscenities.

Charlotte opened the door and, using every bit of strength in her five-feet-five-inch body, kicked the hand coddling his privates. He pulled it away to grab at her ankle, but she zeroed in on the open target and kicked him again, this time on his exposed penis. And again. She thought he blacked out, but she didn’t give a damn. Tears of rage clouded her vision as she pushed his dead weight in front of the open door, then got behind him and pushed some more. He was in such pain, he offered little resistance. When she positioned him on the other side, she forced the door shut and turned the dead bolt.

Jack moaned. His muffled words spewed out through agonizing puffs of breaths. “Call the police, bitch…and everyone will see…the other pictures…I have of you.”

“The other pictures?”
How many did Jack take while she lay drugged and unconscious? And what did he do to her during that time? She wouldn’t let him get away with this. She started to call 911, then put down the phone. If she called the police, she’d have to tell them about the pictures. That would surely make the papers. What should she do?

She thought of Alex.

“If Jack Davidson bothers you again, call me.”

She sat on the sofa, unable to function. She didn’t know how much time had passed before she dug Alex’s card from her purse and stared at it.
And kept staring.

It’s Time, Alex

Alex pulled into the parking lot of Harbor House, Max’s restaurant. He didn’t need someone to talk to as much as he needed a diversion from thoughts of the woman whose lingering fragrance still filled his senses, whose dark blue eyes seared into his brain.

He took a stool at the bar. “Max here?” he asked Rocky, the bartender.

“He’s in his office, but he has someone with him.”

“Man or woman?” Alex asked.

“Male model,” Rocky said with a waggle of his brows. “He’s…
interviewing
.”

One of Max’s enterprises was a glossy magazine fashioned after
Hustler
. Nothing raunchy enough to bring the cops to his door in today’s free-speech climate, but a couple of religious groups made a stink after the parents of an underage model brought a lawsuit. Max claimed not to know. Alex believed him after seeing the young lady. Sixteen going on thirty. The parents dropped the suit and signed a release after Alex paid them a considerable amount of money. He’d determined it was a setup from the start, but he refused to pursue it to avoid making the papers. With law enforcement eager to pin something on him, the last thing Max Carpathian needed was publicity.

Max paid Alex big bucks to solve problems, and Alex did it well. On his advice, Max tightened restrictions on who he hired after that. Alex also advised Max to verify
that his sexual partners of both genders were of legal age. Alex could advise; he couldn’t enforce.

He tired of waiting, thought he’d passed enough time to be able to sleep without thinking. He rose to leave when a rough-looking biker type pushed through Max’s office door. Dressed in black leather pants and sleeveless leather vest, the guy displayed a mural of tattoos on his buff arms. A ponytail hung halfway down his back, topped off by a bandanna tied around his forehead. He caught Alex looking him over and smiled a more than friendly smile. Alex turned away, traded a glance with Rocky, and finished his drink. When the biker left the restaurant, Alex headed toward the office. Max sat behind his desk, the picture of fulfillment, wafting a snifter of deep amber liquor beneath his nose.

“Now there’s a change of pace, Max. Doing a spread on bikers and their babes?”

Alex poured a scotch from the bar and reclined into the depths of the soft leather chair in front of the desk.

“You saw him, huh? Jealous?”

Alex always wondered what would happen if he ever called Max’s bluff and said he’d go to bed with him. But that would never happen. As close as they were, Alex would never reveal his private side to Max.
To anyone. His response was always the same. None.